Maria Pergay's Brilliant Furniture Designs - Fusing Marquetry with Stainless Steel

Maria Pergay: Between Ideas and Design

Maria Pergay

Hello to All That: A 70's Star Reborn  

Stuart Isett for the New York Times

Currents | QandA

New York Times

Maria Pergay, 79, Furniture Designer 

By RIMA SUQI
Published: May 19, 2010

Last weekend, while New York City was overrun by design enthusiasts in town for the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, Maria Pergay, a 79-year-old Parisian furniture designer relatively unknown in this country, was ensconced in a nautical modernist room at the Maritime Hotel.

She was in New York not for the furniture fair — an event, it turns out, that she has never heard of — but to show her latest work at the Demisch Danant gallery in Chelsea (including a sofa of broken bricks she is shown sitting on). Those expecting a woman of her age to produce soft, feminine, upholstered pieces appropriate for a Paris pied-à-terre may be surprised by what has been Ms. Pergay’s material of choice for decades: stainless steel...

"Making Its Mark"

Nancy A. Ruhling,

Art and Antiques, 2006

"Today, a handful of renowed artists, notably Silas Kopf, Maria Pergay, Jay Stanger and Jean-Charles Spindler, innovatively employ marquetry and parquetry and inlay and intarsia in their work as a means to an artistic end. “There are not a lot of contemporary artists working with marquetry,” says Scott Jacobson, owner of Manhattan’s Leo Kaplan Modern. “It’s highly skilled work and painstaking.”

Regardless of the style or type of inlay, the wide appeal of marquetry is more than surface deep. Art lovers, for example, are drawn to Pergay’s work, which incorporates stainless steel inlays in a variety of finishes and other unusual combinations of precious woods and natural elements like mother of pearl, says Suzanna Demisch, a partner in Manhattan’s Demisch Danant, “because they can’t figure out how it’s done.”

While cutting-edge sculptural works like Pergay’s, which sell for $15,000 to $150,000, prove that marquetry and parquetry and inlays and intarsia always will have a place in the art world, the craft it takes to turn out tour-de-force pieces is another matter."

Chuck Erikson - The Duke of Pearl

Chuck Erikson

Chuck and Cheryl Erikson

I called my friends Chuck and Cheryl Erikson after speaking with Gregg Novosad. I'm happy to report that they are doing great, keeping up with family, friends and community.

                       

                           

The Duke of Pearl

Chuck is exuberant about his business, The Duke of Pearl, purveyor of all things nacreous, testicular and chatoyant. Ever the alchemist, he's come up with another remarkable shell inlay innovation - this one for a Paul Reed Smith limited edition. However, I can only remark on it, since he's promised the scoop to his friends at Fretboard Journal - I'll post the article when it becomes available. As consolation, he sent me some photos of banjo inlays that he did for his friend, who wrote the yuletide hit "Grandma got run over by a reindeer".

Custom Inlay by Chuck Erikson

William Tunberg - Fine Artist and Creator of Marquetry Sculpture

Creating Marquetry Sculpture 

Five Thoughts 

Marquetry, 2007 

Total area: 91 x 22 x 5 in.

"In creating marquetry sculpture, I call upon my lifelong love of assemblage and classical drawing. My materials are exotic natural and dyed veneers that I fragment, assemble, and reassemble, and ultimately laminate over complex sculptural forms of my own devising. I consider the resulting imagery as personal narratives expressed in my own language and mode of communication.

Except for its logistical complexities, my use of this classical technique has little in common with traditional marquetry. As far as I know, marquetry has never before been used in contemporary sculpture. Though the process demands precision and focus, and is fraught with difficulty and frustration, the results are worth all the effort. To my eye, marquetry is unrivaled for sheer beauty, expressiveness, and visual drama."

Quoted from William Tunberg's introduction to his web site

http://williamtunberg.com/index.htm

from the section where he explains about his marquetry sculpture

http://williamtunberg.com/marquetry/marquetry.01.htm

Phoenix
Marquetry
26 x 16 x 5 in.

William Tunberg's academic background is similar to Silas Kopf's in that he first studied Architecture and was drawn into woodworking by way of Sculpture. He received his B.F.A., cum laude, in Architecture in 1964, followed by an M.F.A. in Sculpture in 1965, both from the University of Southern California.

William Tunberg

"When I was 7 or 8 years old, I became fascinated with copying postage stamps. At about 11 or 12, I started copying art work that I found in magazines. My favorite artists at that time were de Chirico, Picasso, and Magritte. Influenced by these masters, I started painting original landscapes of the surrounding areas in Oregon where I lived. However, once I saw my first Ingres, my love for drawing the human form became an irrepressible force in my life.

Some more Jay Stanger thoughts and links...

You will enjoy seeing Trippin' Up, Jay Stanger's 1993 piece at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, and reading what he has to say about it. His approach opens my mind to studio furniture that playfully integrates function with sculpture in a way that I find enchanting - an unexpected affect...

Trippin' Up
(Click for Picture Viewer)

Trippin' Up (1993)

Purpleheart, Dyed Veneers, Anodized Aluminum

Stool 48"H x 30"W x 36"D

I'll be away for a few days. When I return I'll do a couple of posts on two more artists who are also 'pushing the envelope' with inlay art, sculptural marquetry and studio furniture: William Tunberg and Toby Winteringham. Its OK to jump ahead, you're in for a treat! ;-)

William Tunberg

Nabucco
2003
Marquetry
62 x 33 x 6 in.

Toby Winteringham

w/ daughter Grace Winteringham

Phase Bureau

Marquetry and inlay ripple effects

Each experience, and post, creates a ripple effect of ideas and associations. I'll reflect on some of these via smaller posts. I'm eager to introduce you to leading artists, collectors and others involved in the inlay arts. I want to tell you about what interests me and learn what interests you. We'll have to be patient and let this process take its course.

M.C. Escher

A Few Thoughts...

I'll have to learn the blogging ropes. I'm using images and quotes from other blogs and sites in my enthusiasm to show you what inspires me. I'll attribute and link to all of these sources so that you can enjoy them as well. I'll also double check my information for accuracy. If I make mistakes, please let me know at Kim@MiArtStudio.com and I'll correct them right away.

I enjoy these wonderful art forms and the highly skilled artists and designers who've mastered them. I hope that you will as well! - kd

BTW - M. C. Escher designed for marquetry as well. 

Escher's Marquetry in Leiden

Condensed from biography written by Bruno Ernst for the book M.C. Escher - His Life and Complete Graphic Work, © 1981, with some material from original essays by M.C. Escher: In May 1940, the Nazi army invaded Holland and Belgium; Brussels and its suburbs were occupied on the 17th. At the end of May, Escher's mother died.

Due to the invasion, he missed her funeral at The Hague.

Leiden Town Hall Commission

Escher spent the rest of 1940 settling his mother's affairs, and executing a commission to decorate the town hall of Leiden. He and Jetta found a house in Baarn, Holland, and moved there in February of 1941.

Escher's Marquetry in Leiden

M.C. Escher's commission to decorate the town hall of leiden

Search Amazon.com for M.C. Escher

YannickChastang | Design

"Egret Cabinet"

YannickChastang | Design: "Egret Cabinet" By Yannick Chastang

A collector’s cabinet decorated with marquetry of pink ivory, ebony, and holly.

1.2 metres wide by 45 cm deep and 1.3 metres high

Yannick Chastang with Egret Cabinet

Designed and made by Yannick Chastang

This collector’s cabinet, fitted with 14 drawers behind a pair of marquetry doors, is an uncompromising, luxurious piece of furniture. Its shape is strongly influenced by the furniture made during the 1920s by Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann (1879-1933) while the marquetry decoration finds its source in the great lacquer works produced in Japan during the 17th century, so well known for the quality of their drawing and understanding of space.

Alain Taral and the 'Bound For Success' International Bookbinding Exhibition

Inlay Arts Renaissance

MiArtStudio.com is about discovering the top talents creating today's inlay arts renaissance. (Mi, pronounced 'My', is an acronym for the marquetry and inlay arts.) The inlay arts are composed of diverse art forms, including marquetry and inlay: variously considered as fine art; decorative art and as applied arts for specialized niches, such as bookbinding. 

Sir Paul Getty Bodleian Bookbinding Prize 

This post is about the first Sir Paul Getty Bodleian Bookbinding Prize that was presented by its sponsor, Mark Getty, on June 12th, 2009 in a special ceremony celebrating the official opening of the exhibition BOUND FOR SUCCESS: Designer Bookbinders International Competition 2009. 

Alain Taral with Mark Getty

Out of a total of 350 submissions, there were 25 distinguished winners representing 9 countries, with another 117 short listed submissions. Competition entries, representing 29 countries, offer highly creative and surprisingly diverse interpretations on the theme of water." [Quotes from Oxford University Services]

Alain Taral Awarded First Prize

The first prize was awarded to Alain Taral, a gifted French marquetarian turned master bookbinder, for a remarkable binding made of pear wood covered with a marquetry ‘skin’ fashioned from an array of natural veneers. 

Regarding his design concept, Taral explains:  

“Water comes to us from rocks, from mother earth, but also from clouds, sometimes from tears… at the beginning just a few drops that then come together to form streams and lakes”.

Alain Taral's First Prize Winning Design

Bound For Success

The Bound For Success exhibition, first shown at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, is now in the middle of a tour to the following venues in the USA: it was recently at the Boston Public Library (18 September – 13 December 2009); it is currently at Bonhams and Butterfields in San Francisco (12 February – 6 March 2010); and will complete the tour at The Grolier Club in New York City (19 May – 31 July 2010). 

Opening Reception
 
Last Thursday, February 11th, I attended the opening reception for BOUND FOR SUCCESS at the Bonhams and Butterfields San Francisco location, hosted by the Bonhams and Butterfields trustees and "Friends of Designer Bookbinders".
Curator and Designer Bookbinders fellow Simon Eccles showed me the prize winning bindings by Alan Taral, Jenni Grey and Edgard Claes. He shared his vision for a fully endowed annual award and international competition that will celebrate, in the words of Mark Getty, “the most creative work in one of the most compelling fields of contemporary art and craft”.
 
Alain Taral 

So, in keeping with MiArtStudio blog’s mission, I'm introducing you to Alain Taral, one of today’s top inlay arts talents, and his personal brand of ‘fusion marquetry’. 

Alain Taral

'Fusion Marquetry'
 
I was impressed by Alain Taral's winning binding, in which he: "uses 'fusion marquetry’ as his cover decoration, utilizing many different precious wood veneers including palm tree, yew, bubinga, lati, plane tree, amboina, elm burls, thuya, and faiera. Other elements of Taral's bookbinding include wooden joints with a steel axis, suede flyleaves, a marquetry title and a wooden slipcase covered with Karelian Birch veneer."

Innovative Bookbinding Collaboration
 

In a future post I’ll discuss an innovative bookbinding collaboration between Alain Taral and Edgard Claes that features hardwood and polycarbonate inlays. I’ll also devote a post to Alain Taral’s explanation of ‘fusion marquetry’ and what new projects and collaborations he is considering.